The purpose of a good education is to show you that there are three sides to a two-sided story.
Stanley FishRead
Language is not a handmaiden to perception; it is perception; it gives shape to what would otherwise be inert and dead.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Language shapes our understanding of the world and is essential to perception.
This quote by Stanley Fish emphasizes the intrinsic relationship between language and thought. Rather than being a mere tool or accessory to our sensory experiences, language fundamentally molds and influences our perceptions, assigning meaning and structure to our understanding of reality. Without language, our thoughts would lack the clarity and form that allow them to become full expressions of our perceptions.
Themes
LanguagePerceptionThoughtUnderstandingMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about communication, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of language in shaping thought.
More from Stanley Fish
All quotes →This is what language does: organize the world into manageable, and in some sense artificial, units that can then be inhabited and manipulated.
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It is of no help to us that there is an absolute truth of the matter of things because unfortunately, none of us are in a position to say definitively what that is - although we all think that we are.
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In general, higher education does not know how to speak for its interests. It offers a stance that is defensive, cowardly and likely to be ineffective.
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Opinion-sharing sessions are like junk food: they fill you up with starch and leave you feeling both sated and hungry. A sustained inquiry into the truth of a matter is an almost athletic experience; it may exhaust you, but it also improves you.
Stanley FishRead
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